Birdwatching report of the private birding excursion, Lauwersmeer 22 April 2018

Birdwatching report of the private birding excursion, Lauwersmeer 22 April 2018

Today a private bird excursion to the Lauwersmeer was scheduled from 13.00-16.30, with two ladies from Leiderdorp. It was a sunny day, 22 degrees Celsius and wind force 4.

At the agreed time the ladies had already walked out of the direction of the first viewpoint. They had arrived earlier and had used their time well: they had already seen two sea eagles fly! They already had a lot of experience in the field of bird watching, so we started soon.

Harriers from the lookout hump

Because I had a telescope with me they found it no problem to walk to the lookout again. The seal of the sea eagle was already pretty hidden between the green leaves, so it was hard to see, and the sea eagles themselves no longer. From the hump we saw male and female brown harrier flying, where the difference between the birds was nice to see. There was also a fish thief to fish and we saw the first duck species.

On the way back to the car the bird sounds were also discussed. This they found a little more difficult. It makes a difference if you already know a number of species and can filter out these sounds. We also passed a fallen tree. In the root ball were still some shells, which you could see that the area used to be sea.

Rooks and the tourist route

The ladies chose to ride with me in the car. The advantage is that you can easily stop somewhere in between and tell them something on the way.

They liked the rookery, because those birds hardly occur in their environment. There were two rooks about three meters away from the car, so the gray feathers at the beak base were clearly visible. Via a small back road we drove to the Ezumakeeg. Along the way we saw barn swallow, greenfinch, and holenduif.

A lot of barnacle geese

At the hill of Ezumakeeg Noord we have looked at the species of ducks, avocets, ruffs and godwits. To our surprise, there was also a crane on the other side of the water. In the meantime a lot of barnacle geese came flying in, and they landed among the other birds in the water.

When we drove to the birdwatching hut, there were a number of photographers along the way to watch something. Still asking what was there to see: there were two stalks in the water foraging. Fun! Near the hut one of the ladies discovered the little plover. The black rider, however, they just overlooked. A redshank was on the other side of the path, so both birds were nice to compare. In the meantime, a skylark whistled the highest song again. They had a nice anecdote about this.

From the hut there were lots of ducks to be seen, and here again a huge group of barnacle geese came flying. Would they gather here to fly to the North?

Not a small egret, but a stonecrop

On the way to the harbor, we checked whether the little egret was still there, which was reported yesterday. Unfortunately, this bird had already left. We did see brent geese on the waterfront. Although the excursion time was actually on, we are still a little further driven.

The cormorant colony I was full of backlight from the parking lot at the dike, so we quickly left again. In the harbor was the last stop, here was still a lonely stonecropper to see. We also saw a few herring gulls.

Time to drive back to the starting location. Here we went back home in our own car. It had been a wonderful afternoon for bird watching. We did not need a coat, and certainly a hat, today and we have seen many nice species of birds!

Observed bird species during the birding tour

1 Brent goose – Branta bernicla
2 Barn Goose – Branta leucopsis
3 Greylag Goose – Anser anser
4 Mute swan – Cygnus olor
5 Shelduck – Tadorna tadorna
6 Shoveler – Spatula clypeata
7 Gadwall – Mareca strepera
8 Wigeon – Mareca penelope
9 Wild Duck – Anas platyrhynchos
10 Pintail – Anas acuta
11 Teal – Anas crecca
12 Tufted duck – Aythya fuligula
13 Grebe – Podiceps cristatus
14 Blue Heron – Ardea cinerea
15 Cormorant – Phalacrocorax carbo
16 Marsh Harrier – Circus aeruginosus
17 Buzzard – Buteo buteo
18 Coot – Fulica atra
19 Common Crane – Grus grus
20 Oystercatcher – Haematopus ostralegus
21 Stilt owl – Himantopus himantopus
22 Common Grebe – Recurvirostra avosetta
23 Lapwing – Vanellus vanellus
24 Little Plover – Charadrius dubius
25 Whipworm – Numenius phaeopus
26 Black-tailed god – Limosa limosa
27 Turnstone – Arenaria interpres
28 Ruff – Calidris pugnax
29 Redshank – Tringa totanus
30 Black Rider – Tringa erythropus
31 Black-headed Gull – Chroicocephalus ridibundus
32 Common gull – Larus canus
33 Herring Gull – Larus argentatus
34 Lesser Black-backed Gull – Larus fuscus
35 Common Tern – Sterna hirundo
36 Hollands pigeon – Columba oenas
37 Wood pigeon – Columba palumbus
38 Common Kestrel – Falco tinnunculus
39 Jackdaw – Coloeus monedula
40 Rook – Corvus frugilegus
41 Black Crow – Corvus corone
42 Blue Tit – Cyanistes caeruleus
43 Great Tit – Parus major
44 Skylark – Alauda arvensis
45 Barn Swallow – Hirundo rustica
46 Fitis – Phylloscopus trochilus
47 Chiffchaff – Phylloscopus collybita
48 Sedge Warbler – Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
49 Blackcap – Sylvia atricapilla
50 Winter King – Troglodytes troglodytes
51 Starling – Sturnus vulgaris
52 Blackbird – Turdus merula
53 Song Thrush – Turdus philomelos
54 European Robin – Erithacus rubecula
55 Black Redstart – Phoenicurus ochruros
56 House Sparrow – Passer domesticus
57 White Wagtail – Motacilla alba
58 Meadow Pipit – Anthus pratensis
59 Finch – Fringilla coelebs
60 Greenfinch – Chloris chloris
61 Reed bunting – Emberiza schoeniclus